Ekusileni Hospital in Bulawayo, Tuesday admitted its first two Covid-19 patients, as the hospital resumed operations more than 15 years after it was shut down.
“It is true we have admitted our first Covid patients,” said acting chief executive officer Dr Absalom Dube.
The opening of Ekusileni will ease the pressure on Thorngrove Infectious Diseases Hospital, United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) which were now overwhelmed due to a surge in patients requiring hospital care.
A brainchild of the late Vice President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, Ekusileni was built in 2001 as a specialist hospital after Father Zimbabwe developed cancer and failed to access health care services locally.
However, it was shut down after it was discovered that the acquired equipment, worth millions of dollars, was obsolete.
Last year the government converted the facility into a national Covid-19 treatment centre to cater for severe cases.
Due to structural issues, the hospital had to undergo some renovations with non-state players- under the banner of the IAM4BYO-Fighting Covid-19 initiative- leading the resource mobilisation process.
